The Home Visit: What to Expect

We don’t do home visits to judge your home or decorating style! Rather, the goal of a home visit is to get to know you, your family, the energy level and atmosphere – all things that help us ensure that we pair the right bird with the right home.

• We prefer to meet all residents of the home. We may ask to see identification for all adults in the home; our volunteers can provide their identification as well, if requested.
• We will want to see the areas of the home that the bird will have access to, and where the cage would likely be placed.
• We will ask to meet your other pets and get a feel for their energy levels and care requirements. We will share ideas about safety precautions and tips to keep everyone secure, healthy, and as stress-free as possible!
• Don’t worry about cleaning your home to its highest shine. A good home for a parrot is one that is lived in, but reflects that the owners have time and space to add a companion parrot. We will review common household dangers and safe cleaning products to use around parrots. If you have questions for us, the home visit is a great time to ask!
• Home visits are done by two HARP volunteers (and sometimes 3, if we are training a new volunteer).

Additional Questions…

• How does this help me?

We can give insight about cage placement (why windows matter, suggesting a higher- or lower-traffic space depending on what we know about the bird, etc.)

We talk about the species you are interested in, along with any information we have specific to the bird you would like to adopt: do they produce a lot of dust, what level of “messy” you can expect, what good nutrition looks like, etc.

We discuss mitigating less desirable behaviors, and what we can offer to help the transition from the foster home to your home go smoothly, etc.

• Isn’t this a lot of extra work for you?

It is a lot of work, but it is also necessary. We often have multiple applicants for every bird that is available for adoption, and typically do at least two to three home visits before selecting the best fit. We are aware you could go to a breeder and buy a bird without a home visit, but your breeder is unlikely to take your bird back in two, three, ten, or twenty years when you can no longer keep them. Usually, they go into rescue, whether it is ours or another. And that would make not only more work, but it is also very, very stressful for the birds.

One Final Note… Most of the birds in our program have been tremendously loved prior to surrender, and their families are typically very sad to see them go – but are no longer able to care for the bird (due to a variety of reasons). We assure them that we will do everything in our power to find the best placement for their beloved friend, and we take that promise very seriously. We love people who want to open their hearts and homes to a rescue bird through adoption, but our priority is to make sure it is the best choice for each individual parrot. Birds develop close social bonds with us, and they do not understand why they are no longer in the place they are used to, with the people they know. They can (and do!) build new bonds with people, but it is stressful for them and better to keep the number of homes they have throughout their lifetime to a minimum if possible. Even folks who have the best of intentions and/or previous experience may not fully realize the true commitment it takes (and the sacrifices in other parts of your life you have to make) to be the guardian of a parrot.